I speak, of course, of the MetLife ad which featured a shit-ton of cartoon characters including He-Man, Voltron, Peanuts and more, getting together to... talk about how much they love life insurance, I guess? I don't know. I didn't care for it. I find life insurance kind of a grim enterprise anyways, and I've never liked the Peanuts shilling for MetLife, so including more cartoons makes me feel like they're trying to sell life insurance to children, which just seems wrong. I mean, they don't let cartoon characters advertise beer and cigarettes anymore, so I don't know why it's okay here. At least beer and cigarettes make people feel good.

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Unless Charlie Brown's bald because of chemo, the Peanuts gang has no need for life insurance. Voltron doesn't either because, um, he's...not alive? He-Man? He needs it because he's constantly fighting Skeletor, but he can't get it because he's...constantly fighting Skeletor.

This felt really patronizing, probably because of the tagline about "I can do this." Do they think that I think I can't do this? It's like the marketing department is targeting retro-geek culture and identifying our taste as a form of arrested development--an escape from the grown up world. "It's okay you immature man-child who spends his money on 80s DVDs and action figures...we know the idea of life insurance sounds like big scawwy grown-up talk from the adult table...but we can make it all kiddie-like and friendly, nice and simple...just like the world was when you were seven...which, by the way, was over two decades ago."

Really? All this did was set the internet aflame with nostalgia to crap Hanna-barbera cartoons. He-Man and Voltron are the only "cool kids" in that crowd. Okay, maybe Fat Albert. Okay, maybe Waldo. Okay... not so bad now, I guess...

Sell life insurance to kids? I dunno how many kids you know but I guarantee none of them have heard of most of the characters in this spot. I'd say it's much more likely that this commercial was directly targeted at aging, 30-something, nerd bloggers that likely have a strong nostalgia for said characters.

At the party I was at last night, we came to the conclusion that we were apparently in the demographic for life insurance ads, and a sullen hush fell over the group as we sadly realized we were now Old.

Overlooking the company behind the commercial for a moment, can we step back and acknowledge what just happened here? He-Man and Voltron, two beloved nerd icons, just blasted across the screen during Jock Christmas. Could it be, we two proud peoples, are finally reaching out to live together after the great Nerd/Jock wars of the 20th Century?

Wow . . . I ALWAYS love it when we see various different properties get together in the same place- it just sucks that it had to be for 'MetLife' I mean, I know life insurance is important and all, but the fact that this was all about selling life insurance just drained the life right out of what other wise would have been pretty damn cool. He-Man riding Battle Cat in the woods only to end up along side the Jetsons, the Mystery Machine and Voltron? Should have been commercial gold . . .

1. Suddenly, Progressive's use of Sonic the Hedgehog (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... ) seems slightly less impressive.2. Am I the only one who thinks He-Man & Voltron seem a little out of place amongst this crowd?3. Judging by the expression he makes, did Richie Rich just nail Daphne in the back of a limo?4. HOLY S***, IT'S WALDO!! HEY EVERYONE, I FOUND WALDO!! SERIOUSLY!!

I don’t think its targeting geeks at all. You don’t have to be a geek to recognize and enjoy these characters. My parents liked the commercial and grew up with many of the characters and they’re far from geeks. I think the tagline “I can do this” is more about saying how people from all walks of life can easily use their service just like all the different cartoon characters can. The targeted demographic is essentially everyone within the appropriate age group.

Same thought I had, it's not that they are selling to kids, its just that people who grew up with MOTU and Voltron are now life insurance demo. Overall the add is really boring and pointless, even thought I liked seeing He Man and Battle Cat.

What was that one series a few years back where all the brand mascots and television personalities got together for dinner? I don't remember what is was for, but I do remember being sorry for the Green Giant that he couldn't come inside and had to squat outside the building, probably in an alley.